Saturday, January 23, 2010

*Note: The set lists are hidden to protect those of you who may consider it a spoiler.

Photos:

@larry411 attended this show and took some amazing pictures. Here are a few, you can see the rest HERE. (Check out his awesome independent film website HERE.)

This show will forever be known as the show where we first saw Joan play a black Gibson Melody Maker, instead of the white one she has played for nearly 30 years. Larry got some great shots of it. This is also the first time that Jettheads have ever seen this particular black and gold jumpsuit that Joan is wearing.

Joan Jett @ Harry O's in Park City, UT, 01/23/2010 (c) Larry Richman

Joan Jett @ Harry O's in Park City, UT, 01/23/2010 (c) Larry Richman

Closeup of Joan's black Gibson Melody Maker (c) Larry Richman

Also, if you look closely at the guitar neck near Joan’s hand, it looks like there is a small black heart on the fret:

More impressive to me is Jett’s personal story after the Runaways broke up. She’s one of the first stars to start her own record label as a means of getting her music to the masses, starting Blackheart Records when she was barely out of her teens. She’s a political activist who’s played both anti-war rallies and done tours in the Middle East for U.S. troops. And when Seattle punk rocker Mia Zapata was murdered in the ’90s, Jett took her place in the band The Gits to help raise money to find Zapata’s killer.

3. “Review: Joan Jett,” The Salt Lake Tribune, 01/24/2010. Great review of the show by David Burger. Here are a few quotes, click the link to read the whole thing:

With her trademark short black locks and heavy black eyeliner, Jett commanded the stage with charisma and showmanship that comes with being a performer for 35 years. Clad in a low-cut sparkly black jumpsuit with a black sash tied around her waist, Jett’s looks killed.

But if it were only image, the excitement of seeing her would have faded soon. …

Jett’s anthems are not particularly complex, but the band was tight and ferocious, and it was great to see a rock band in Harry Os, which usually books hip-hop acts and rappers for its Sundance week shows. The band was playing so hard, in fact, that before the fifth song, the drummer put on an oxygen mask to get more air into his lungs. He repeated the act after the song finished. (Sorry about the thin air up at this altitude, people.) [Me: Poor Thommy!]

…

The only false note of the performance came during a cover of The Replacements’ “Androgynous.” It was a great choice of a song, but Jett’s campy, cabaret version of the ballad missed the wistful sadness of the song. It was too jaunty for my taste. [Me: Now THERE’S a debate for the Jettheads. Why would androgyny make Joan Jett SAD? The song, the way The Blackhearts perform it, is empowering. I’ve never heard The Replacements’ version, so it never occurred to me to be saddened by it. And I’d rather not be anyway.]

4. “Joan Jett Rocks Sundance,” Evelyn McDonnell, 01/24/2010. This is a cool review, from a fan. The set list is included, but she left out “Naked” and “Fetish,” which I determined from watching the videos above.

I’ve seen Joan a dozen times in two decades, and while this was definitely one of the best shows I’ve seen her do, I’ve never seen her just phone a performance in either. Last night she was particularly fierce, winking those big eyes at every hot body in the crowd (or so it seemed to me). The girl (I know she’s 50, but she’s so Peter Pan youthful looking, I call her girl out of respect) really does love rock’n’roll.

Lead guitarist Dougie Needles zoned in on the notes as he and Jett would team for some powerful chugging chords and let it fly solo throughout the night. Bassist Enzo Penizzotto kept the lower end of the arrangements thumping as Thommy Price’s primal instincts took on his drums. Jett’s longtime manager Kenny Laguna also added touches to the songs on the keyboards, tambourines and anything else that was needed.

When I was sorting through party invitations pre-Sundance, I almost missed it. And then my eyes focused and realized I was being offered a chance to see Joan Jett — and the Blackhearts, thank you — perform a show at HarryO’s on Main Street Saturday night.

It quickly went straight to the top of the personal event list for the week. Not because I have remained a fan since 1981, but because it was a chance to see Joan Jett perform, for chrissakes. My first rock crush (also from my hometown of Philly). Like many contemporaries, “I Love Rock N’ Roll” was my first sing-along anthem (though Pat Benatar’s “Hell Is for Children” came right after), and she, along with Chrissie Hynde, represented the ultimate teenage fantasy: an attractive woman who could rock harder than you.

4 thoughts on “Saturday, January 23, 2010”

I guess I’m a bad girl. 🙂 I know, I should hear it, especially after I did that “Appreciating the Originals” post I did awhile back where I highlighted the original versions of some of Joan’s songs. I promise, I will.